As you can probably tell, my name is Aonghas Anderson. I was born in Auckland, New Zealand (28.Nov.1990) and I have lived in the same house for my whole life. My dad is a New Zealander and my mum is from Hong Kong, so that makes me 50% European/ 50% Asian (or Eurasian). I have two older brothers and we are each two years apart.

I graduated from Rutherford College as a Year 13 student in 2008 and I am currently studying Engineering at The University of Auckland, specialising in Computer Systems.

My Name

One of the most common questions I get asked when I meet new people is “how do you pronounce your name?” My name, Aonghas, is the Scottish Gaelic form of ‘Angus’ and, although commonly pronounced Angus, the correct pronunciation is in fact EEN-yis. My dad has ancestry in Scotland so I guess that’s where I got my name from. Over the years I have learnt to respond to Aonghas being pronounced in many variations, as well as interpret numerous misspellings of my name. I must admit Aonghas is quite a rare name in New Zealand, but I am proud to say that I have never come across another Aonghas Anderson in the world so far (despite my many web searches!). Both my brothers have Scottish Gaelic names as well – Seumas (he usually goes by his second name, Hamish) and Calum (with one ‘l’).

The name ‘Aonghas’ is of Celtic origin, and its meaning is “one choice” or “unique choice”. In Celtic mythology, Angus Og is a god of attractive traits such as humour and wisdom. It is also the name of an eighth-century Pictish king known as Onnust or Hungus.

In America, the name tends to be associated with breeds of cattle such as the Black Angus. When I visited Hard Rock Cafe in Atlanta, Georgia (USA) in 2008, I tried Angus steak for the first time in a burger and I must say it was one of the best-tasting burgers I have had!

My name has several variant forms including Aengus, Angie, Anngus, Ennis, Gus and Gussie, however in recent years I have been given a few nicknames such as A-Man, A-Dawg, Aonghy (‘AN-ghee’) and most recently Aonghy Panky Pants (abbrev. APP).

I also have a Chinese name, which is 安天念 (ān tiān niàn). 安 (ān) is my family name and means “peaceful”, while 天 (tiān) means “sky” or “heaven” and 念 (niàn) is translated as “to study/studious”.

Education

Primary

I attended Sunnyvale Kindergarten as a toddler before starting at Henderson Primary School when I turned five. My first full year at Henderson Primary was in 1996, where I was taught by Mrs Trainer (nee Smart) in Room 4. Soon I moved into Room 3 with Mrs White and I stayed there for the rest of the year. In 1997 I was placed in Room 7 with Miss Clayton, a newly graduated teacher.

That year was the last year all three of us Anderson brothers attended the same school, as Hamish was due to attend Rangeview Intermediate School in 1998. Henderson Primary celebrated its 125th year in 1998 as well by holding a Reunion for past and present students. My other primary school teachers were Miss Tuiviti (Rm 9) in 1998, Ms Jenkins (Rm 14) in 1999, Ms Barris-Wheeler/Mrs Hughes (Rm 6) in 2000, and Mrs Hughes/Mrs Fitzpatrick (Rm 6) in 2001. When I was a in Year 5 (a.k.a Standard 3) I became a fully qualified traffic warden on Montel Ave. I had to wear a fluorescent coloured bib and instruct students when to cross the road on the way to and from school. I was then promoted to “Traffic Patrol” in my final year at primary school, which meant I got to use the big lollipop signs at the pedestrian crossing on Great North Road. I will never forget those cold mornings when I felt reluctant to get out of bed to go to school, but knew I had to because it was my “duty” to keep students safe as they crossed the busy road to school. During my final years at Henderson Primary I was also a member of the school choir, led by Ms Barris-Wheeler. We occasionally sang at school assemblies, but our big performance of the year was the Te Atatu Schools Choir Festival, held annually at Bruce McLaren Intermediate School. In 2000, we went to Snells Beach in Warkworth for our school camp. Our camp in 2001 was held at Camp Bentzon on Kawau Island. Our prizegiving in 2001 was held across the road at the new Baptist Church and as a farewell to the school, the Year 6 students sang ‘I Believe I Can Fly’.

Intermediate

In my first year at Rangeview Intermediate in 2002, I was put into Room 3 with Mrs Pope. She was a new teacher at the school and it was the first time Room 3 was used as a regular classroom because previously it was used as a Textiles/Home Economics room. Since our classroom was right next door to Food Technology in Room 4, the smell of freshly cooked food often drifted across the hallway into our room. My house group was Ngauruhoe (the blue group). I was elected by my classmates to represent Room 3 on the School Council, together with Katie Watson. Our syndicate camp that year was in Taupo. In 2003 I was taught first by Mrs Haase for Term 1, before our actual teacher Mrs Vannisselroy recovered from illness to teach us for the remainder of the year. Although I was elected again as Class Councillor for Room 34 with Nicole Foster, I did not manage to be appointed for a Head Student role. My good friend Luke Sizer became Head Boy that year, and Adrienne Hooper was chosen for the Head Girl position. Our Year 8 camp was held at Chosen Valley, a popular camp location for Rangeview students at the time. Over my two years at Rangeview I was a member of the school orchestra, led by Miss Rai. I played the accordion for most of the time, but occasionally filled in as a violinist. In 2003, Miss Rai wanted to start a marching band but she did not have a trumpeter, so I decided that I would try and learn to play the trumpet myself. I made my trumpet-playing debut that year in the school’s production ‘Jungle Fantasy’, although I only had to play three notes. The theme for our Graduation ball was ‘The Lord of the Rings‘ and the hall was decorated with large golden rings hanging from the ceiling.

Secondary

Following on from my two older brothers, I began my secondary education at Rutherford College in 2004 after leaving Rangeview. I had to sit an entrance test the year before I attended Rutherford so they could sort out the class streams, and fortunately enough I was selected to be part of the junior enrichment programme, ‘Kaleidoscope’. For the first three years at Rutherford my form teacher was Ms Bakker, a past student of the school. Kaleidoscope helped me to develop my thinking skills and also allowed me to start learning independently.

In 2006 I was chosen, along with six other senior students, to be part of a pilot programme funded by the government, called the Talent Development Initiative (TDI). The TDI was co-ordinated by my eldest brother’s previous form teacher, Mrs Russell. This programme was designed to develop unique skills and talents of the selected students and provide them with individualistic learning programmes. In the first year of the TDI as a Year 11 student, I spent one period a day in Mrs Russell’s office to work on projects that involved video production, music and homework from my other subjects. After the success of the programme’s first year, plans were underway to extend the number of students in the TDI. In 2007, the second year of the TDI, the number of students in the programme rose to 22 (including Year 11, 12 and 13 students). The TDI was allocated a form room in the International Village, and our vertical year-level form class was one of its kind. Early on in the year our class went to camp at Waiwera for three days.

In 2008, the TDI gained national acclaim when our programme was published as a front-page article in The New Zealand Herald.

Throughout my high school years I tried to participate in a range of activities from cultural performances to sport. Over the five years I performed in nine Studio Shows, Junior and Senior Prizegivings, Rutherford Day Ceremonies and other events. I joined the Senior Boys’ Squash team after playing squash for the first time during Wider Living Week in 2004. I also served on the Rutherford Board of Trustees as the Student Representative during 2006-07. In the lead up to our final year at high school, the positions for Head Students and the Prefect group were decided. After a thorough teacher nomination process, the final group of students were short-listed and interviews for the Head Student positions were conducted. I was selected to be the Deputy Head Boy for 2008, along with Allie Le Lievre as Deputy Head Girl. The other top positions for Head Boy and Girl went to Luke Sizer and Rose He respectively. My final year at Rutherford College was perhaps the best year of my education. As I began to realise the end was imminent, I tried to savour as much as I could because I knew the year would fly by quickly. Our school ball was held at Eden Park and we had our Year 13 Leavers Dinner at McHughs in Devonport.

Tertiary

My first taste of University was during my last year at Rutherford College when I took a Computer Science paper (COMPSCI 101) in the first semester as part of the Young Scholars programme. I bussed into Uni after school three times a week to attend lectures and labs. Being out of a school environment for the first time was definitely a change; the freedom and anonymity both of which I was not used to. In 2009, I started the year enrolled in an Engineering/Arts conjoint degree at The University of Auckland. As it turned out, the Arts component of my degree felt like more of a chore than it did an interest, so I decided to take an indefinite hiatus from Film, Television & Media Studies to focus on Engineering. In 2010, I was accepted into my first choice engineering specialisation, Computer Systems. I am really enjoying University at the moment, though I still have no idea what I would like to do after I graduate.

Hobbies/Interests

Music

Like my brothers, I started learning music at an early age. After sitting in to listen while my brothers had their music lessons (and usually falling asleep), I started to learn the piano accordion myself at The Music Education Centre when I was five years old. My first tutor was Evana Lithgow, the same teacher Hamish had. Later that year I sat my first practical examination (Preliminary Grade) and from then on I began to perform regularly at afternoon concerts and to my class at primary school. In 1996, I competed for the first time in the New Zealand Accordion Championships, hosted by the New Zealand Accordion Association (NZAA). Every year I continued to compete as both a solo performer and sometimes together with my brothers in duet and trio classes. The Championships are held every year at Epsom Girls’ Grammar School in Auckland during the Queen’s Birthday weekend. Throughout the years I also progressively worked through my practical examinations. I sat Grades 1-3 under the tutorship of Evana Lithgow, before being taught Grade 4 by Calum’s teacher Sonja Palinich. My other tutors included Wayne Knights and the director of The Music Education Centre, Marcel Reithman, before Campbell Bettridge took over in 2004 at The Music Education Centre in Glenfield. I eventually completed my Grade 8 examination in 2006 just after my 16th birthday. My most significant achievement on the piano accordion was during the National Championships in 2009 when I was placed first in the NZ Open Entertainment Class for my performance of ‘Basso Ostinato’. It was a great privilege to be invited back to perform at the Festival concert  on Sunday afternoon, along with all the other top class winners over the weekend.

 

Apart from the accordion, I also learn to play the violin and have had lessons on the piano, viola and trumpet (though I am not very good at it!).

New Zealand National Accordion Championship Results

Year	Placing	Class
1996	1st	Standard Class S101 – 5 years and under, less than six months playing
	1st	Qualified Class Q201 – 5 years and under solo
1997	2nd	Qualified Class Q202 – 6 years solo
	3rd	Championship Class 1 – 7 years solo
1998	1st	NZ Championship Class 1 – 7 years solo
	2nd	NZ Qualified Class Q203 – 7 years solo
	2nd	NZ Championship Class 30 – 10 years and under duet
1999	1st	NZ Championship Class 2 – 8 years and under solo
	1st	NZ Championship Class 50 – 12 years and under trio/ensemble
	2nd	NZ Championship Class 30 – 10 years and under duet
2000	1st	NZ Championship Class 3 – 9 years and under solo
	2nd	Qualified Class Q218 – Light Classical, 10 years and under solo
	2nd	NZ Championship Class 31 – 12 years and under duet
2001	1st	NZ Championship Class 4 – 10 years and under solo
	1st	NZ Championship Class 51 – 17 years and under trio/ensemble
	1st	NZ Championship Class 31 – 12 years and under duet
2002	1st	NZ Championship Class 5 – 11 years and under solo
	1st	NZ Championship Class 51 – 17 years and under trio/ensemble
	2nd	NZ Championship Class 6 – 12 years and under solo
	3rd	South Pacific Championship Class SP250 – 12 years and under solo
2003	1st	Qualified Class Q219 – Light Classical, 11 & 12 years solo
	1st	NZ Championship Class 51 – 17 years and under trio/ensemble
	2nd	South Pacific Championship Class SP250 – 12 years and under solo
	2nd	NZ Championship Class 32 – 15 years and under duet
	3rd	NZ Championship Class 7 – 13 years and under solo
2004	1st	NZ Championship Class 7 – 13 years and under solo
	1st	NZ Championship Class 32 –15 years and under duet
	1st	NZ Championship Class 32 – 15 years and under duet
	1st	Qualified Class Q232 – Ethnic 13 to 15 years solo
	1st=	NZ Championship Class 51 – 17 years and under trio/ensemble
	3rd	NZ Championship Class 8 – 14 years and under solo
2005	1st	NZ Championship Class 8 – 14 years and under solo
	1st	NZ Championship Class 33 – 17 years and under duet
	1st	NZ Championship Class 52 – New Zealand Open trio/ensemble
	2nd	Qualified Class Q210 – 14 years solo
	3rd=	NZ Championship Class 9 – 15 years and under solo
	3rd=	South Pacific Championship Class SP251 – 15 years and under solo
2006	1st	NZ Championship Class 10 – 16 years and under solo
	1st	NZ Championship Class 34 – New Zealand Open duet
	1st	NZ Championship Class 52 – New Zealand Open trio/ensemble
	1st	Qualified Class Q211 – 15 years solo
	3rd=	NZ Championship Class 13 – New Zealand Open Free Bass solo
	3rd	South Pacific Championship Class SP251 – 15 years and under solo
2007	1st	NZ Championship Class 52 – New Zealand Open trio/ensemble
	1st	NZ Championship Class 34 – New Zealand Open duet
	2nd	NZ Championship Class 11 – Junior Virtuoso, 17 years and under
2008	1st	NZ Championship Class 52 – New Zealand Open trio/ensemble
2009	1st	NZ Championship Class 52 – New Zealand Open trio/ensemble
	1st	NZ Championship Class 15 – New Zealand Open Entertainment solo

 

Other

Apart from music I am interested in electronics – I like pulling  things apart to see if I can fix them. I like video editing and creating  3D graphics on the computer as well. In my leisure time I like to  exercise by playing basketball or going for a run. I am a member of  my Uni gym and attend regularly (well, try to!) to keep fit. I also enjoy being around  friends and family and having a good time.

High School Achievements

• Dux Artium 2008
• Male Performer of the Year 2008
• Outstanding Contribution to Cultural Life Award 2008
• The Eric Clark Award for being Deputy Head Boy
• Most Improved Player – Senior Boys’ Tennis 2008
• Year 13 Oratory Cup 2008
• 2nd Top Scholar Award for NCEA Level 2 External Exams 2008
• University Entrance 2007
• Achievement in NCEA Level 3 2007, with Excellence 2008
• Achievement in NCEA Level 2 with Excellence 2007
• Achievement in NCEA Level 1 with Excellence 2006
• Rutherford College Year 12 Values Award 2007
• Cultural Service Award 2007
• Certificate of Merit in Statistics and Modelling 2007
• 2nd Top Scholar Award for NCEA Level 1 External Exams 2007
• 1st place in iSAY Senior Debating Competition 2007
• Merit in Auckland Chinese Speech Competition 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
• Rutherford College Award for Top Year 11 Mathematics and Chinese Student 2006
• Award of Highly Commended Performer in School Orchestra 2006
• Senior Cultural Award 2006
• Most Valuable Player – Senior Boys’ Squash 2006
• Certificate of Merit in English, Accounting, Mathematics (Year 11 and Year 12) and Science 2006
• Award for Most Promising Junior Musician 2004, 2005
• Junior Cultural Award 2004, 2005
• Most Valuable Player – Chess 2005
• Rutherford College Award for Top Year 10 Mathematics Student 2005
• Certificate of Merit in Chinese, English, Graphics and Design,  Health Education, Mathematics, Music, Physical Education, Science and  Technology Electronics 2005
• Certificate of Merit in Art, Chinese, Health Education, Mathematics, Performing Arts, Physical Education and Chinese 2004
• Rutherford College Award for Top Year 9 Mathematics and Science Student 2004
• Award for Most Promising Year 9 Boy 2004
• First in Form 9BK 2004
• 2nd in Year 9 Speech Competition 2004

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